Through the Flames
by TigerDemonX52
Summary: After the death of her parents in a fire, all Rin Kagene wanted was a friend. But how is that possible when on the night of her sixteenth birthday she discovers that she's a bigger freak than her classmates already think. What's a "Seer"? Who's that strange kid from the woods? "You have been rendered blind, now it is time to wake up." Main pairing: RinxLen. Romance in later chaps.
1. Alone

**Okay so this is kind of my first Vocaloid fanfic. I'm a little nervous 'cuz Idk if it's any good. I re-read it like 5 times but I'll let you guys be the judges. R & R let me know what you think! :) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloids... lol if I did, I think it'd be the end of the world. ;)**

**Alone**

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner!" My classmate Teto yelled while we sprinted down the streets on our way to school. The chilly, spring morning wind was blowing in our faces as she tried desperately to curl her hair into her trademark magenta drills.

"Why couldn't you wake up to your alarm clock like a normal person!" I shot back, making it apparent that I wasn't very thrilled about having to run to school for the fifth time this week. My voice was muffled by my toast hanging from my mouth and we were both slightly panting as we rounded the corner; the school finally starting to come into view.

"It didn't go off!" she glared at me through her bangs.

I just rolled my eyes, shoving the rest of my breakfast into my mouth. "My ass, I heard it beeping out of your window!"

"...Oh."

I sighed as we charged through the iron front gates and into the rundown brick building that some call school; I personally like to call it prison. _Please, I can't get another tardy, _I pleaded to no one in my head, feeling panic rise within me as each precious second ticked by. _Aunt Lilly will kill me, or worse, take away my oranges!_

We didn't even have enough time to go to our lockers and dashed through the already empty, brightly lit halls. My lungs were burning and our steps echoed through the school as the open class room door at the end of the hall began to close. _Almost..._ I stretched my hand out in front of me, my heart about to pound out of my chest. _...there! _We burst through the door, panting like dogs and about a second later the bell rung.

_Oh my God, that was _way_ too close... _I sighed and nearly fell to my knees in relief when I heard someone clear their throat.

I hesitantly looked up to see my math teacher, Mr. Hiyama, glaring at us. He was clearly a little pissed that we were holding up his *cough* boring *cough* lesson, so I quickly hurried off to my seat near the window with Teto following directly behind me.

As Mr. Hiyama began to write the notes on the chalk board, I could feel my adrenaline slowly ebbing away and I began to write. Then I felt a poke on my shoulder and turned to Teto, sitting in the seat behind mine. 'What is it?' I mouthed, looking out of the corner of my eye to make sure teach didn't see us.

"See, we made it," she whispered back with a smirk on her face. "You were worried for nothing Miss straight A student."

I frowned and turned back around. So I was good at school even though I hate it with a passion, big deal. I knew a lot of the people in my classes thought of me as a nerd, and that didn't really bother me. It wasn't a bad thing to be smart, was it?

"Rin..." I heard Teto begin quietly. "YOU'RE SO FREAKING CUTE WHEN YOU POUT!" she squealed and grabbed me in a hug around my neck, practically strangling me where I sat. _C-can't b-breathe!_

"Miss Kasane! Miss Kagene!" Mr. Hiyama shouted, making Teto release me, just as I was about to pass out I might add, and sit back down in her chair. "I would hope that you realize, that I can fail you both without having a second thought." he said menacingly, narrowing his dark eyes at us.

"S-sorry," I stammered, shrinking back in my chair under his intense gaze. _Great, not this again. _I shrunk down even farther and after a few more seconds of glaring, the lesson resumed.

_Why do I always feel like I don't belong here..._, I thought as I was taking notes, discreetly turning back to look at Teto out of the corner of my eye. She was mouthing things to her friends across the room and trying to contain laughter when they mouthed things back.

To be completely honest, even though Teto has been the closest thing to a friend I've had in the month I've lived in this town, part of me knew we really weren't friends. When I moved here she was always so nice to me, she would come to talk to me and sometimes eat lunch with me. But when it came down to it, I could always tell that when she was talking to me, I always got the feeling that I wasn't the one she really wanted to talk to.

She puts on the act that she has fun with me and calls me cute probably to help me make other friends, but it's always the same. I'm alone, all alone except for the friend who only hangs out with me because of pity. The past month has been nothing but an act for me, and for her. She acts like she likes me, I act like I'm oblivious to the fact that she doesn't.

...

By the time school finally ended for the day, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. I waited outside for Teto like I usually did and when she turned to me from her friends, I saw the light in her eyes dim a little, no matter how hard she tried to hide it with a smile.

I couldn't believe I was doing this to myself. Was I so desperate for a friend that I would knowingly keep someone that doesn't like me by my side? Apparently I was. It hurt to see a fake smile everyday. _Why can't it be real for once? _Just that thought itself felt like daggers stabbing at my heart.

"Hey, Rin," Teto smiled one of those so-cheesy-you-know-it's-fake smiles at me. "Sorry, did you wait long?"

"Nope, not at all." I put on the best smile I could and we began to walk back in the direction we came from this morning. It was warmer out now than it was then, and because of the short blue and black checkered skirt and t-shirt I had to wear everyday, I was grateful that I wasn't going to freeze my ass off.

Neither of us talked, because we had nothing to talk about really. I tried to start a conversation every once in a while, but it would only last for a minute or two. I was actually more surprised that I could talk to Teto at all, seeing as we never had anything in common to begin with. I guess that was just another sign of the act I was putting on, all a part of the show. I was just that desperate.

I really didn't understand though, why would she hang out with me if she didn't like me? I knew that she felt bad for me but-

"Hey, it's Kasane." I heard a girl say to her friend as we walked past them. She sounded like she was trying to whisper but come on, I heard her all the way across the freaking street. "I can't believe she's still hanging out with the loner."

"I know right," her friend replied, also completely failing at what they thought was 'whispering'. "What's she thinking; it's like social suicide."

Teto stopped dead in her tracks and looked around frantically, eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Um, I need to go Rin," she said a little too quickly.

"O-okay," I replied as I felt my heart drop. I knew what was going to happen next. "See you-" She took off running in the opposite direction, even managing to leave a dust cloud in her wake. "...later."

I sighed and continued to walk home with my head hung low, hoping that my blond bangs would keep my hurt expression from being seen. This happened everyday, yet it still never got any easier. Teto would always freak like that when she was seen with me outside of school.

I really didn't get what was so weird about me anyway. Maybe it was because no one knew anything about me other than the obvious shy demeanor and good grades, but then again no one even tried to find out more.

Even Teto didn't, she would only ask the usual 'What's your name? What's your favorite color?' It never really got much deeper than that even though I still to this day wished that it would. I... guess I just wanted a friend that cared...

The only reason I lived in this hell hole was because my parents died in a fire last year. I can still remember that day because it's the day that replays itself in my nightmares.

I had said goodbye to my parents that morning and ran off to school, but when I got back that afternoon, there were sirens blaring, fire trucks out front and my home was up in flames. Some neighbors were staring at the house in shock, others were crying for fear that my family and I were in there.

I remember the smell of the putrid smoke, suffocating me even from a relative safe distance, and the heat that made me believe that I had literally dropped into Hell. Tears started to flow down my face and all I could think was, _Where's mom and dad? WHERE ARE THEY! Please don't let them be in there!_

Before I knew what I was doing, I was sprinting toward the burning inferno, praying with everything I had that they were safe. I had to see for myself that they weren't in there. Now that I think back, I'm glad that a fireman stopped me from actually going in. Once the fire was put out, the bodies of my parents were discovered in the basement. I would've died before I had even found them.

As far as I was concerned, my world ended that day. At the time I didn't care if I died; if they were gone, I wanted to be with them. However, after my aunt Lily took me in and I moved away from those memories, I realized that I didn't want to die and that my parents didn't want me to die either. They would want me to live and be happy even without them. So that's what I was going to do, and hopefully the pain I still felt from their loss would lessen.

Well... if I could get people to give me a chance, I would. Unfortunately, I was still strictly in the "Work in progress" zone. My sixteenth birthday was tomorrow and I had hoped that I would be past that by then.

It was never like this when my parents were still here. I had friends in my old school, not many, but I had never needed tons of friends. I had hobbies and plans for my future but after the fire, I stopped doing anything. My "friends" abandoned me because I was no longer the happy, outgoing girl they once knew and I couldn't even bring myself to sing or dance anymore. Just because I would remember how my parents used to smile at me when I did.

...

I was almost home when I started hearing rustling noises. There were large sections of trees near my aunt's house that kind of separated one house in the neighborhood from another, so it was relatively secluded where I lived. I knew that the rustling had to be coming from somewhere in the brush, but the question was, what was it? After a few moments of listening to silence I thought, _It must be a squirrel or something, _and kept walking down the block.

The rustling continued though soon after that, almost sounding like it was getting closer and this "animal" seemed _way _bigger than a squirrel.

I stopped and cautiously turned toward the trees. I knew that if I got attacked or something, the house was only another block away so it wasn't a difficult run. My heart was pounding as I stepped even closer and yelled, "Hello?" _Yes Rin, let's talk to the wolf that could potentially jump out and tear you apart._ Ah, stupid logic. But what if it wasn't a wolf? I could only hope by that point that my curiosity wasn't going to get me killed. "Hel-"

"There he is!" A voice suddenly rang out of the trees and I was so surprised I almost fell backwards, clutching my bag to my chest like a shield against a possible animal attack. The bushes near me violently rustled again and the voice yelled, "Hurry up and get him! Don't let that reject get away!"

_'Get him'? What are they chasing?_ _Don't tell me... are they bullying someone?! _I pushed my way through the brush just in time to see the backs of two boys running as fast as humanly possible after something, or as they seemed to be implying, someone.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" I called after them but my yell went unnoticed as they were starting to disappear the behind trees. "Hey!"

I began sprinting after them, just hoping that I was completely wrong about what they were doing. There was no way I was just going to walk by and let someone get hurt if I could potentially help them!

"I know you guys are out here!" I stopped and started listening for any possible movement, but there was none. Everything around me was completely silent to the point where I started to get a very eerie feeling. The trees weren't moving in the wind, the birds had stopped chirping and even the air had a feeling of heaviness to it.

_It's almost like I'm in another world_, I thought. There was something different in the air, but I had no idea what it was. I took in a deep breath and that's when I smelled it. _S-smoke!_

My brain kicked into overdrive, my panic apparent in my voice. "Hey! Someone! Where are you guys! We need to get out of here!" I knew that smell anywhere, I could _never_ forget that smell.

I continued to run, searching for anyone that could be in danger if there was a fire. _Please let everyone be okay!_

The smell got stronger as I got deeper, but even then I still barely saw anything. There wasn't any thick, black smoke like I was expecting there to be.

Then I suddenly caught a glimpse of something yellow out of the corner of my eye and I almost tripped trying to stop myself. I started wheezing with my hands on my knees before I looked up to see a boy with blond hair and blue eyes, exactly the same as my own. He was sitting up against a tree trunk, looking so exhausted I was surprised he still had his eyes open. His head was hung limply onto his shoulder and his eyes looked partially glazed over as he stared straight at me, no emotion on his face.

"Are you o-" I gasped when I saw his arm. It was gushing blood from three long gashes that looked almost like... claw marks. "Oh my god!" I ran over to him and frantically tried to get him to respond to me.

"Tell me what happened. It's going to be okay but please you need to stay awake!"

The boy's cloudy eyes moved slightly to meet mine and he groaned in pain before mumbling, "It's fine. Just go."

"No way in hell!" I yelled in his face, even surprising myself. "You need help and I'm going to help you!"

He tried to push me away but even that slight amount of movement made him begin to wheeze in exhaustion. I took a look down at his hands and noticed that all the grass near him was burned to ashes. _That must've been where the smell came from...but how-_

The boy groaned again and thinking fast I started tearing off bits and pieces of my uniform to attempt to stop the bleeding as best as I could. "Come on dude, stay with me." I said as his eyes began drooping shut. If he passed out, I didn't think I'd be able to carry him.

He locked his cloudy eyes with mine again and I smiled at his will power, "Good. Now where did those other kids go? Are they hurt too?"

"No," he spat bitterly. "And they're long gone." I just nodded in confirmation, I must've been right then; they _were_ bullying him.

"Let's get you out of here," I smiled as I finished wrapping the torn cloth around his arm. The bleeding had stopped a little but I still needed to get him some actual bandages. "Can you walk?"

He blinked a few times at me and it was strange, he was already starting to look much better. The color was even starting to come back to his eyes and face. It was nothing short of a miracle, considering he seemed like he was close to death a few minutes ago.

_He's going to be okay_. I sighed in relief and held out a hand to him as I stood up and brushed ashes off of my knees. "Come on, that torn shirt won't hold forever."

The boy hesitated and dropped his head for a second as if he was deep in thought. His spiked bangs hid his expression and just when I was going to persist, he reached his other bruised but uninjured arm up and placed his hand in mine.

***Nervously paces back and forth* ...So...um...what do you guys think? Ik it might start out slow but it'll get better I promise...**


	2. The Meeting

**Here's chapter 2! Let me know what you guys all think of it because reviews give me motivation and confidence that I'm actually doing a good job with this... so please R&R!**

**The Meeting**

With the boy's good arm hoisted over my shoulder, I slowly led him out of the woods and back onto the sidewalk a block or so from my house. Now that I knew that he was going to make it, my biggest concern was whether Lily was home yet or not, if she was, I didn't want to think about what she would do if she found out I didn't even know this kid.

I let out a breath as I looked up at the bright orange and yellow sky, it was my all time favorite color, the color of the sunset. _How is it that late already?_ I thought, sighing to myself. _Please don't let Lily be home. Pleeeease don't let Lily be home._ She wasn't mean or anything like that, it was just that when she got mad... _AHHH! DON'T THINK ABOUT IT RIN! YOU'LL HAVE NIGHTMARES FOR A MONTH!_

I stopped us in front of a light colored Victorian house, and checked the driveway before I even considered opening the front gate. _No Lily_, I sighed in relief._ Thank you God for being on my side today._

When I pushed the white gate open was the first time the boy had spoken in about twenty minutes. "Are you stupid or something?" He mumbled, so low I questioned if he was even talking to me.

"What?" I let the irritation show in my voice as I shot a glare his way. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"I told you, I'm fine. You could've just left me there." He looked away from me, his eyes examining the grass like it was the most interesting thing in the freaking world.

"Tch, yeah right. You looked like you were inches from death, why _wouldn't _I help you?"

I led him up the pathway to front door and brought him inside. We crossed through the living room until we got to the kitchen and I sat him down on one of the wooden chairs from the table, also bringing another one around for me along with the first aid kit. I began to slowly pry the bloody rags away from his skin and saw that the wound that was gushing blood not even a half hour ago was already starting to close up.

_What the-_

"See stupid, I told you I was fine," the boy grumbled. He had his chin in his hand and was shooting me a bored look like he was just humoring me the whole time.

RIP! I casually tore the last piece of cloth off of his arm, not even trying to be careful anymore. The dried blood gave it the effect of a heavy duty band-aid.

"OW!" He yelled, gripping his arm. Huh, guess he wasn't so fine after all. "What the hell!"

"That's for calling me stupid; twice." I said, applying disinfectant which made him start to hiss in pain. "I happen to have a name you know. It's Rin, so why don't you try calling me that instead?" He just grunted in response before we fell into the most awkward silence I had ever experienced in my life.

"I don't get it," he eventually mumbled, catching me by surprise and I looked up at his face to see nothing but pure curiosity in his eyes.

"You don't get what?"

"You said that you helped me because I was 'close to death'. But even after you saw that I was fine you still went so far as to bring me to your house."

"...Your point?" I tilted my head to the side in confusion.

"You don't know anything about me. So why would you bring me here not knowing if I was a rapist or murderer or something?"

To tell the truth, that thought had crossed my mind. I had wondered if I was making a mistake showing a stranger where I lived, especially since I had never even seen a glimpse of him around here before. But I just had a feeling that it would be okay, I just knew somehow that he wasn't a threat to me.

My mom used to call it my 'special skill'. I was always able to tell whether someone had good or bad intentions almost like the instinct of a wild animal. Though I always could've just been good at reading people. My parents would even tell me of times when I would point out people on the street that I thought 'did something bad', only to find out later that those people had stolen something or attacked someone.

In short, it was my sixth sense, and it said that this boy was just talk.

"Well, you're not." I said simply, with no doubt in my mind.

"But how do you _know_?" Someone was a bit impatient.

"I just know." I sighed as he shot me a very unsatisfied look. "And besides," I added chuckling slightly. "if you were a rapist or something why would you intentionally put my guard up by telling me?"

I playfully flicked him on the forehead with my index finger and his eyes widened at me before he quickly turned his head away. "Heh...stupid..." I barely even heard him say anything. _Um...ok? _I sighed. _I'm just trying to make him feel a little better...Hm... I think I should keep him talking._ _I have questions I want to ask anyway._

"So, um," I started slowly, really hoping that I wasn't prying or anything. "Where exactly did you get this wound?" I gestured to the three long clawed gashes down his right arm. I had originally thought that those kids had done this to him but the wound looked like something only a wild animal could do...

He turned back to me and his azure eyes looked lifeless, almost like when I had found him. "A wolf attacked me..." He mumbled. I waited a few minutes to see if he was going to add anything, but he remained completely silent. It was like he was lost in his own world. Even though his eyes were on me, it didn't seem like he _saw_ me. _Oh crap! I just made him remember getting attacked by a wolf! No wonder he's spacing out! Bad Rin, bad!_

"O-oh...I'm really sorry..." Damn it, why couldn't I have a conversation with someone without making them feel even more uncomfortable? Maybe if I just avoided the subject I could get him to lighten up.

I was almost done wrapping up his wound when I realized all of my bandages were gone. _Great_, I sighed to myself, mentally taking note to stock up again later. There was still about two or three inches of the gashes still exposed, but what could I... _Oh wait, I got it._

I untied my trademark white ribbon from my shoulder length blond hair and tied it tightly around the rest of his injury. _There, that should probably hold._

"All done." I brushed my hands together and stood to put the first aid kit away when I noticed the boy looking at me with an expressionless face. It was from that angle that I actually got a better look at him. Not only was his hair and eyes the same exact color as mine but I got the suspicion that if he were to let his hair down from that small pony tail he had, then he could be my double.

_That's a pretty cool coincidence_, I smiled to myself. "What's your name?" I asked shoving the kit into the cabinet.

The question actually seemed to take him slightly off guard and he waited a minute before he responded. "I-it's L-"

AWHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! A loud howling pierced the twilight and both of our gazes shot to the window.

I turned to him as I walked into the living room and said, "Hold on a sec, I think the neighbor's dog got out again. I'll go let him in." That dog _always _howled when it got out and couldn't get back in.

When I was almost at the door, a hand gripped mine and I turned to see the boy with more emotion on his face than I had seen all day. He looked almost angry but was trying hard to hide it.

_I didn't even hear him get up... _"What's wrong?" I smiled, trying to reassure him. "Don't worry, wolves usually don't come over to where all the houses are. They usually stay in the wooded areas, so I'll be fine. Just wait here until I get ba-"

His hand only tightened instead of loosened and he pulled me backwards, making me almost fall right into him. "What are you-"

_Oh my God_, I inwardly gasped. _What happened to his eyes?_ They were red, a deep crimson color almost rivaling blood itself. Even his pupils looked... like they were slit and narrowed.

"I'm returning the favor." I blinked and when I looked again his eyes were back to normal...did I just imagine that? "So, don't you dare go outside."

Then he bolted past me and ran out into the early night, leaving me nothing short of confused, and even though I wouldn't say I was afraid, I was shivering and frozen as I stared after him out of the open door.

...

About an hour later, I was lying on my bed in my yellow and white pajamas trying to comprehend what had happened earlier. There was no way that what I saw was real. Maybe it was just a reflection of the setting sun in his eyes or something, because there was no possible way that his eyes had actually turned red. _But then how would that explain his pupils dilating like that? _I crushed my face into my pillow. _No, I was seeing things!_

But still even if I was imagining it... I couldn't deny the fact that that boy was pretty weird...

Suddenly I heard the door downstairs slam open and a loud, cheerful voice yelled, "RIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNYYYYY! I'M HOME!"

That's when my eyes shot to my school uniform hanging over the edge of my dresser drawer. How the hell was I going to explain how it got ripped to shreds?! I couldn't exactly tell her the truth...well, the _whole _truth. I bolted over to it and shoved it as far down into the drawer as possible before shutting it and jumping back onto my bed.

"Rin?" Aunt Lily slowly creaked open my door, probably to see if I was still awake or not. "Hey there you!" She ran over to my bed and started suffocating me in a hug. "How's my favorite niece? How was school? That Teto girl didn't make you late again did she?"

So needless to say, Lily didn't like Teto very much. The first time she met her she even went so far as to call the way Teto acted around me "phony". But I didn't blame her, she was only looking out for my well being and she wanted me to be happy like my parents probably did.

I pried her arms away from me and laughed. "I'm fine and school was fine Lily. Oh, and no I wasn't late again."

Lily smiled a sad smile at me and held onto my hands as she asked, "Are you sure you're okay Rin? I mean I'm scared that you're not living the life you should be living here... I thought that taking you in with me would give you a chance to live the way you wanted but..."

I squeezed her hands, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry, it's only been a month after all. I'm sure that I'll grow on some of the kids eventually." Too bad I wasn't as confident as I sounded. I resolved that I wouldn't go back there; to the fear and depression that had almost consumed me. I couldn't think about my parents without breaking. I won't break, I can't break. If I did, how could I live the life they would want me to live.

"Rinny..." I snapped out of my trance and looked up. It didn't look like Lily saw my face drop, but her's said it all. _Oh crap, I think I know where this is going._ "YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUTTTEEEEEE!" Lily caught me in her iron grip and began to nearly hug the life out of me. _Why do I get the feeling of deja vu?_ "Tomorrow we are going to throw you the best sweet sixteen ever! Okay? I'll even take off work so I can make the cake!"

The thought of Lily cooking anything made my blood run cold. She couldn't cook to save her life, oh God how I pitied her future children. "Y-you don't have to you know," I gasped, trying to get as much air in my lungs as possible.

"Of course I do silly!" She released me and I flopped to my bed wheezing like a fish out of water. "Although I should probably check to see what ingredients I have," she said to herself, completely unnoticing that she nearly just killed me. "Night Rinny!"

Lily practically skipped out of my room and all I could do was laugh because you know, that was just her. "Night."

"Oh and Rin?" Lily poked her head back into the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"Hand over whatever you were hiding in your drawer."

_..._

_..._

_..._

_Well damn it all to hell..._

"What makes you think I'm hiding-"

"Rin." Her voice took on that low menacing vibe that I knew that if I tested her, I wouldn't see sixteen. I sighed in defeat and handed her the torn up blue shirt and skirt, to which she just stared wide-eyed at, before turning to me. "What the hell happened to this?"

"Um... I... um..." _Come on Rin, come up with something that doesn't involve bringing a boy attacked by an animal into the house. _"T-there was this cat," I started and her eyebrow raised at me. "and it was kinda injured...I found it in the bushes about a block from here." Hey, this was actually pretty good. "It was injured pretty badly so I tore up my uniform to bandage it up. It shook the bandages off though and ran away..."

Lily contemplated my story for a minute before smiling and patting my head. "Okay," she sighed. "Good night Rin."

"Yeah," I smiled back. _I think I just dodged a freaking bullet._

...

Black. Everything was black. I couldn't see or even feel anything around me, just the black abyss that I was floating in. Where was I? I had no idea, but if I had to guess though I'd say in a dream. My entire body felt numb and I couldn't move an inch so if it was a dream it was a pretty real feeling one.

_Rin_

"Huh?" My voice echoed in the dark. I tried to turn my head to find out if I could see who had called me but I was frozen in place.

_Rin_

"What is it?"

_Rin_

"What do you want from me?" Panic was starting to rise into my voice.

_Rin_

"What!"

_You have been rendered blind, now it is time to wake up._


	3. Sweet Sixteen From Hell

**Sweet Sixteen From Hell**

My eyes snapped open and I bolted upright, my covers splayed out and hanging off my bed like I had been turning all night. I was completely drenched in sweat and I was panting like I had run for miles as I clasped my hands tightly together to keep them from shaking. _W-what was that?_ I asked myself, trying desperately to calm down. It didn't feel like a dream at all, I _felt_ numb, I _heard_ that voice talking to me. It was like the person speaking was whispering it into my ear while I was asleep...

After about twenty minutes of whispering comforting words to myself, I had managed to calm down some. _It was just a dream... just a dream..._ I looked over at my clock, but my heart was still about to pound out of my chest. Well, thank you creepy mental alarm clock for snapping me awake at six o'clock on a freaking _Saturday_!

I got up, slid open my window and looked out at the rising sun, coming up over the trees and rooftop of the house across the street. I couldn't explain it, everything seemed more... vibrant today. The sky was bluer, the trees were greener, even the morning dew on the grass shone brighter than I have ever seen it before.

_'You have been rendered blind'_ I shook my head vigorously, almost hitting it on the window frame in front of me. There *shakes* was *shakes* no *shakes* freaking *shakes* way! It was a dream! Just a very real feeling dream, that's all it was! And what the hell would it even mean anyway if it was real? I had 20/20 vision, for the love of oranges I wasn't blind!

I sighed and allowed myself to calm down fully as I stared at the beautiful morning sky. _At least it seems like it'll be a good day._ _Maybe I'll go for a walk before Lily gets up and starts running around like a mad woman._

? POV:

_Okay...how exactly am I going to do this?_ I was sitting in the bushes along the side of her house, trying to come up with a plan as to how I could give her white ribbon back. I held the soft fabric, slightly stained with my blood in my hand and winced a little as the twigs around me began to poke me. _Though why would she even want it back now? I'm probably just wasting my time..._

I glanced down at the arm she had bandaged up like a mummy the other night and the previous ragged, torn and bloody skin was now flawless, not even a scratch left. There probably should've been at least a scar after a wound that bad, even something like me got scars, but maybe it was because of that girl's medical treatment that there was no sign of one.

_...Idiot..._ I sighed to myself. _I told her I would be fine._

I looked back to the ribbon she had been wearing on her head. It must've been important right? Why else would she be wearing it like that? _UGH! I DON'T GET IT AT ALL! _I started scratching my head like mad, racking my brain for answers. _How could she be so open and inviting with someone she doesn't even know! She's either naive or stupid, I'm not sure which!_

But... she _knew _I wasn't going to hurt her... how? There was only one possible explanation for her certainty, but she couldn't have been what I thought she was. She just seemed too... normal for that.

"Ohhhhh Len-Len~"

"AHH!" I screamed, falling face first into the bushes, a gigantic stick jabbing me in between the eyes. "DAMN IT OLIVER! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE!"

"Hmm, about twenty minutes," I heard him say nonchalantly, as I was yanking leaves out of my hair and rubbing my aching forehead. "Long enough to watch you stare intently at someone's house like a total stalker."

I swung around and glared at the small blond boy, perched up high above me on a branch of a nearby tree. "S-shut up! I'm not staring at her house and I'm not being a stalker!"

"Oh, so it's a _her_ huh?" he smirked down at me. "I take it that she was the one who put you back together last night too?"

"H-how do you-"

"I saw you walking home last night with a pathetic look on your face." he explained, leaning back against the trunk of the tree. "Your arm was all wrapped up and you were covered in bruises. I also knew that _you_ wouldn't have bandaged yourself up, knowing that you would heal in a few hours. Though you still looked like a kicked puppy, or I guess in your case, a sad kitten."

I let a low growl escape my throat. "SHUT-EEP!"

I heard a window slide open and I instinctively dove back down into the bushes. _Crap, did she hear me?_

"Nice Len," Oliver chuckled quietly.

"Why are you even here?" I angrily whispered back as loud as I dared without anyone hearing.

"To make fun of you of course, what else are best friends for?"

I just groaned, still laying on the ground in an army crawl and whipping my hair out of my face. "Some best friend you are. Aren't you supposed to be, oh I don't know, concerned about me?"

"Which is reason number two that I'm here." he smiled. _Gee, I feel so loved. _"...Who was it this time?" his voice lowered. "Akaito, I'm guessing based on how you smelled like wolf when you got back last night."

"Wow, now who's the stalker?"

"Seriously Len, it was him right?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Him and Big Al."

"Want me to go after him for you?"

"Pfft, what are _you_ going to do monkey boy? Throw bananas at him?"

"No," he smirked again at me, swinging around the branch and hanging upside down from it by his legs. "but that would work with you."

I smiled up at him. "Shut up, goofball."

I heard the click of a door unlocking and the girl from yesterday stepped out of her house. She was wearing an orange t-shirt with short jean shorts, black clips were holding her bangs back like I had seen the other day and the only thing missing was the bow that was currently in my hand.

Great, I thought I could sneak it to her or something but that would be kind of hard now with her awake. But wait a minute, why was I even doing this anyway? It's not like I cared what a normal human girl thought about me! I was... just returning the favor! Plus I was a little curious... There was something in her eyes the other day, something I just couldn't place.

"Ohhhhh, I get it now." Oliver said, somehow popping up right next to me and almost making me jump into the tree where he just was.

"Y-you get what?" I placed my hand on my chest as a feeble attempt to calm my fast beating heart.

"Why you're stalking her. She looks like a really cute, girl version of you!"

"...Um, are you hitting on me, or telling me I look like a girl?"

He whacked me on the back of my head. "What do you think moron?"

"...and I am not stalking her!" I added almost as an after thought. That wasn't why I was here! I was returning her bow! That. Was. It!

"Nice delayed reaction on that one," he mumbled. "Then what are you here for?"

"To give her this back," I held up the white ribbon. "And to get rid of my doubts..."

"What kind of doubts?" Oliver raised an eyebrow at me.

"You see...," I explained everything that happened yesterday, mostly having to do with how she was so certain I wasn't a threat.

"Do you think she's a Seer?" Oliver asked. "She seems to have a heightened sense of danger like one."

There wasn't any way that was the case. If she was, then she would have known what I was the second she saw me yesterday. "...I really doubt it."

Rin's POV:

"ACHOO!" I sneezed so hard that I was surprised my clips didn't fly out of my hair. "What the hell? Is someone talking about me or something?" Oh well, probably shouldn't sweat it. Maybe I was just cold.

I walked down the street in the direction of the park, watching the rustling leaves of the trees around me and savoring the stillness of everything else. Since it was so early, there probably wasn't anyone awake, let alone in the park, but that's exactly what I wanted. Maybe the quiet scenery would get my mind off that damned dream.

I walked through the large stone arch entrance with 'Melody Park' engraved into it and sat down on one of the benches overlooking the park's lake. The water was a beautiful, clear blue that nearly took my breath away and I could feel the tension in my muscles melt away as I watched the sunlight reflect off of it. I didn't remember ever seeing the water like that before, why did everything look so beautiful today?

I pulled an orange out of my bag and started to peel it, the aroma making me relax even more than I thought possible. _It can't get any better than this_, I grinned ear to ear. _Maybe I can bring Lily here with me later when we're celebrating. Oh, and maybe I can convince her to make an orange cake! ...Um actually on second thought, maybe not. I should buy one on the way back so the thought doesn't even cross her mind._

_Rin_

My body froze. N-no way.

_Rin_

I frantically began looking around me, looking for someone, _anyone_. But the park was deserted.

_Time to wake up._

A excruciating pain shot through my skull and I doubled over, falling off of the bench. I held my head like I was holding my brain inside and I didn't dare open my eyes. The smallest amount of light caused pulses of intense pain to shoot through me. I thought my skull was going to split open right there. _W-what's happening t-to me?_

I managed to force my eyes open a crack and I could see multiple shadows quickly darting around me. "W-who's there?" I groaned, gripping the grass as another pulse of pain coursed through my skull. The shadows looked too small to be people, but my head hurt so bad that I couldn't open my eyes any wider to see what they were.

Then as suddenly as the pain had come, it stopped, leaving me shaking on the ground of the park. I opened my eyes fully and looked around me, there was nothing there but I felt something similar to what I had felt the other day in the woods. It was almost like a dark pressure pushing down on me. Almost suffocating me.

_I need to get out of here!_ I scrambled to my feet and sprinted out of the park as fast as my feet could possibly carry me. Yet even when I had gotten all the way down the street, that pressure never lifted off of me. If anything, it increased the further I ran.

I felt a hand grab my shoulder and I began screaming bloody murder. I gripped my shoulder bag and swung it around, my eyes squeezed shut as hard as physically possible. Even when my bag made contact I kept my eyes shut and sprinted like a bat out of hell.

When I got home I ran inside and slammed the door behind me, my lungs were on fire from the exertion.

"Rin?" I heard Lily call from the other room. "Is that you?"

"Y-yeah!" I called back breathlessly. _Oh man, I can't let her see me like this! Calm down Rin, calm down!_

"Great timing! Come help me with the food!"

"O-okay!" I stammered, trying to slow down my racing heart. "B-be right there!"

Len's POV:

"Why don't you tell me again how you are _not_ stalking the girl that just beat your ass with a purse."

"Don't you even start," I grumbled as I pried myself off of the pavement and rubbed my stinging cheek. Something told me this would've been a good day to stay in bed... "She looked freaked out about something and I thought I'd ask her what it was."

"Yeah," Oliver smirked down at me. "how'd that work out for ya?"

"Whatever." I sat up and slouched over with my chin in my hand.

"Besides, didn't you tell me before how you thought she saw your eyes change?"

I opened my mouth, only to come up blank on a smart ass remark.

"That's what I thought," he crossed his arms and sighed, his blond bangs coming down to cover his bandaged eye.

"...I messed up didn't I?" I asked quietly.

"Well, if she ends up not being a seer, then hell yeah."

I sighed and hung my head. "Great..." If she saw me, it could end badly. Creatures like me and Oliver weren't supposed to exist in the world and as far as all the humans believed, we didn't. We were nothing more than the stuff of nightmares and legend. This sucked, but even if she saw my eyes change, what human in their right mind would believe her anyways? I just had to hope that no one from the academy found out, otherwise I was dead and buried.

I turned my head to look down the street and I saw a large group of shadows spilling out of the park. Some had started to form black physical bodies of their own and separate from the ground. They were snapping their large jaws of razor sharp teeth and clawing their ways out of the pavement, probably to go find themselves a meal. "Oliver, there's a bunch of goblins over there." I said, completely unfazed by the sight which I knew would give humans nightmares.

"Yeah, I see em'," he sighed again and mumbled, "our work is never done."

"Well _yours_ isn't," I said, sounding more bitter than I had intended. I looked down at my hands and my nails had started to elongate themselves into claws.

"Len..."

"Just go Oliver," I put on the fakest smile I had ever worn. "Unless you want to wait for Gumi, cause you're too scared." I taunted.

He said something else, but I didn't hear it as I turned around and began walking home. I wondered if that girl was running from the goblins before, but she would have to be able to see them. And as far as I knew, all trained Seers were already within the confines of the academy. But... why did that thought make me feel disappointed?

Rin's POV:

"Ugh, my stomach!" I wined, curled up on the living room couch in the fetal position.

"Oh, quit being such a baby," Lily said as she started dealing the cards to play poker, a party wasn't a party until we started gambling after all. "My cooking isn't _that_ bad."

You're right, it was bad and worse, it was like chewing on old shoes covered in soy sauce. _Well_, I chuckled to myself. _beating her at poker a few times oughta make me feel ten times better._

"Oh hold on a minute," I said. "I'll go change into my pajamas."

"Hurry back," Lily smirked. "Before I'll have no choice but to start switching our cards."

I started laughing. "Go for it," I smirked as I taunted her. "Maybe you'll actually stand a chance then."

I then walked up the stairs to my room and was about to change when I saw something white out of the corner of my eye.

There were two windows in my room, one looking out in the front of the house and another that was along the side of the house, the side that was bordered by nothing but trees. So when I looked up, I was looking out of the window facing the trees and I saw a white ribbon tied around one of the trees branches.

I walked over, slid open the window and untied it, only to realize that it was the one I had given to the boy the other day. _How did this get here?_

My mind flashed back to when I thought I saw his eyes turn red and I felt goose bumps run down my arms. Then I remembered what had happened earlier that day and I almost started to cry. _NO! No, Rin stop right now before you scare yourself. It's your birthday so calm down and try to have fun!_

I let out a shaky breath and changed as I placed my partially blood stained ribbon down on my dresser, then went to lose myself in destroying Lily at poker.

**Please review guys, bad, good, in the middle, I want to hear them all. They make me a better writer :) Thanks!**


	4. Sixteenth Moon

**I wanted to post this like a week ago, but it never really turned out like that. So to make up for it, I made it extra long. :) R & R, enjoy! Hope you guys like it!**

**Sixteenth Moon**

? POV:

_Humph, this must be where that pathetic excuse for a half-blood ran off to yesterday._ I thought as I sniffed around the dark bushes in the middle of the night, finding that piece of trash's scent everywhere around me.

I thought I was going to be sick. The smell itself made me feel like chucking up my lunch. This is why it was a pain in the ass being in my wolf form. Everything had an insanely strong scent, I couldn't talk, and to top it all off, it hurt like hell to have my bones cracking and shifting every time I transformed. But hey, I guess that's the price you pay for power. In this world, that's all that matters.

I was going to teach that trash-blood that the weak died and the strong only got stronger. I mean come on, what kind of half-blood couldn't transform into their demon form? Pathetic. He was better off going and living with the clueless humans, he was just about as strong as them anyways and almost everyone in the academy agreed with me.

A stinging pain in my shoulder made me growl as I remembered what that punk did to me the other day. He burned me, he freaking _burned_ me! I had nearly cut off his arm with my claws and then fire just shoots from the ground and burns all the fur on my left arm right off of me. Ugh, he can barely use his elemental powers but he can't even transform?! Words can't even describe how pathetic that kid is! But let me tell ya, that punk was going to _really_ get it now!

I lifted my head to stick my red colored muzzle in the air and sniffed some more, trying to figure out what that other scent mixed in with _his _was. _Sniff, sniff, sniff...is this human? ...Or maybe...demon?_

"Akaito." I swiveled my ears in the direction of the voice, not even turning around because I knew who it was. Big Al, my partner. "Is this where he hid yesterday after we kicked his ass?"

I nodded and kept sniffing. _Probably...but what the hell is this other scent?!_

"Hey look," Al's gruff voice sounded again behind me. I turned and the end of my red scarf hit me in the muzzle as I looked up at the tall brunette, pointing through the bushes. He was pointing over at a big house with a few of it's lights on.

_...So? Who cares? It's probably just some human that lives here. _

Al probably saw me roll my eyes because he sighed and groaned, "Look up in the window, idiot." I gave the house a second look and sure enough I could see a girl about my age with short blond hair up in one of the lit windows. "She probably helped him don't you think?" he smiled. "And something seems off about her." Humph, so he noticed too huh?

If I wasn't in my human form, I would've grinned from ear to ear. _Yeah, she probably did. _She's _what I smelled._

Rin's POV:

_I think I'm totally losing my mind_, I thought, staring at my returned white bow in my hand. It was already 11:00 at night and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't fall asleep. Not that I was surprised by that fact though. I was terrified to the point that I would shake if I even considered thinking about what had happened earlier. So needless to say, going to sleep was out of the question.

I just sat there on my bed with my hand raised above my head and stared up at the ribbon, wondering if the weird boy had anything to do with what was happening to me. All of these things started happening after I helped him after all.

Ugh, I just didn't get it and it terrified the hell out of me. Part of me thought that if I could find that kid from the day before, that I could get some answers but, A) how the hell do I freaking find him? And B) If I saw wrong the other day, he was going to think I was _insane_! Oh, and lets not forget the fact that I could've possibly seen his eyes change into something _anything_ but human! That scared me more than anything else!

I didn't know _what_ to think anymore. ...But something was happening to me... so maybe this was a chance I needed to take... It was either the shadows from before, or the kid who was weird but never made a move to hurt me. And he _did_ seem concerned about me when he left, he even gave my bow back... Crap, what the hell was I getting into here?

I sighed as I placed my bow on my night stand and looked back over at my clock. _11:20...It's going to be a looong night..._

...

I decided, after ten more minutes of wallowing in confusion, to try distracting myself if I was going to be up all night. Might as well, seeing as scaring the crap out of myself wouldn't do me any good.

I guess it would've been around a time like this where I could've called a friend, tell them my fears, and have them talk me through it. Pfft, yeah right. I was alone in this, and even Lily would probably lock me up in a nuthouse if I told her.

I bolted upright and scanned my room for any form of entertainment, heck, anything to get my mind off of this. But my eyes ended up landing on a group of pictures on my desk. _Damn it, I really need to learn to be more specific._

I ran to my desk and flipped them over before I could get a good look. Some of them were pictures of my parents and I, others were of a younger me dancing and singing for family members. I couldn't look at them, if I did, I knew I would start crying. That life didn't feel like mine anymore. _I'm fine_, I thought, almost talking to someone else rather than myself. I bowed my head onto the cold white wood table in front of me. _I promise... I'll be okay. _Even though at that moment, I felt anything but.

...

I stood up a few minutes later and decided to get something to drink, hoping that it would calm me down some. I creaked open my bedroom door and was greeted by a pitch black hallway; Lily was probably asleep. I closed my door behind me and tip toed over to the stairs as quietly as I could with the wooden floor boards creaking loudly underneath my feet.

I was surprised that I was actually able to maneuver through the dark house with only a faint outline of walls and furniture to go by. So when I had made it down into the kitchen, the first thing I did was let out a sigh of relief. _Phew, I didn't kill myself._

I looked up and gasped at how bright the kitchen was compared to the rest of the house. The silver moonlight flooded in through the back window above the sink and tinted everything a beautiful shade of platinum. My eyes widened and forgetting all about my drink, I walked over to the window, staring into the near blinding light. There was something almost hypnotizing about it and I think before I was even consciously aware of it, I began to relax.

I stared up at the gigantic creamy white moon, so big it literally looked like it was directly outside the window. If I wanted, I was pretty sure I could reach out and touch it. I felt as though the light surrounding me was drawing me closer to that beautiful ball of light in the sky; like my soul was being drawn out of my body. Something was calling me.

_It is the sixteenth moon._

My body turned to stone; cold and unmoving. The platinum light petrifying me as I felt the deepest sense of cold fear grip at my heart. _The sixteenth...moon?_

I needed to get out of there and away from the light but when I tried backing out of the kitchen, I realized that my legs wouldn't move. I tried lifting my arms and again nothing would even flinch. My body had literally turned to stone, and my soul was trapped inside, struggling in the cage that was now my own body.

_SOMEBODY HELP ME!_ I screeched, my lips still locked shut and my eyes still staring in the direction of the moon.

_It is time._ The voice rang again in my skull, bringing with it a feeling of nausea in the pit of my stomach.

_Who the hell are you!?_ I screamed back to the passive voice. _What are you doing to me!?_

Seemingly as a response, my leg lifted on its own and slowly turned me around. My robotic moving body made it's way over to the back door and no matter how hard I tried to stop it, my hand lifted and gripped the door knob.

_Stop! I am _not_ going out there! _I needed to get away from the moon. That had to be what was doing this, no matter how crazy it sounded. I didn't understand what this 'sixteenth moon' was, but I sure as hell didn't want to stick around and find out.

I strained my soul in panic to get a grip over my body. Despite my efforts though my hand unlocked and opened the door, letting the cold night wind blow into my face and lift my hair off of my shoulders. I could feel everything my body touched and all of my senses were working overtime but the only thing I couldn't do was move of my own free will.

The yard, which was pretty much just a small field of grass with trees surrounding it, was completely bathed in the same platinum light as the kitchen. It was even brighter outside than it usually was during the day and if I had control of my face I probably would've been squinting my eyes. Every tree and every blade of grass didn't look green either. Everything looked white, metallic and even sharp like I would get a cut just by touching something.

I felt my bare feet touch the wooden deck before I even realized I was moving. My screams of protest going unheard as I stepped into the grass and locked my eyes on the moon once more.

After what seemed like an eternity, my eyelids slowly drooped closed, letting myself soak in the light.

_You have been rendered blind, to a world seen yet unseen. You have been rendered weak, power locked within a soul confined._

_The only one confining me is you!_ My voice sounded like I was on the verge of tears, and if I could cry I damn well would. _Let me go! Please! Let me go!_

_It is time to wake up, Rin._

_I don't even understand what you're saying!_

_Open your eyes._

Len's POV:

"AHHHHHHHHH!" I suddenly screamed in pain, coming out of a dead sleep. Pulses of a pain I could've never even imagined coursed through my entire body, making me shake. My back arched and I flung forward onto my hands and knees. I could hear loud crunching noises, echoing in my ears like they were coming through a megaphone. My bones. Oh my God...I was shifting!

I groaned and placed my sweating forehead down onto my clenched fists, feeling my bones shifting and elongating inside my body. _How do the kids at the academy put up with this?_ I tightly clenched my teeth together. _This hurts worse than I ever thought possible._

Another pulse shot through me but before I could even register the pain, it stopped. My bones all snapped back into place and I grunted, collapsing face first onto my bed with no more strength left in my body. _Damn it,_ I moaned to myself. _I was so close..._

I shut my eyes tightly and as I tried getting up I saw light. Even through my eyelids I could see it.

Panting hard, I sat up and looked out my bedroom window. The moon hung in the sky like a bowling ball on a string, just waiting to fall. I've never seen it that big in all of my life.

Now that I thought about it, that girl's house was in that direction, maybe even right below that freakishly huge moon. I felt a pang of urgency at that thought, like my instincts were telling me something.

Why did I almost shift tonight? That was the first time that's ever happened to me. Did it have something to with the moon? Maybe even that girl?

My instincts then began telling me something else. _...Damn it, I'm probably going to regret this..._

Rin's POV:

My eyes flew open and I gasped, falling into a heap on the dew covered grass. I stared wide-eyed at my hands in front of me, opening and closing them to make sure it was real. I could move again, oh thank God I could move again.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr" I jumped up and spun around, coming face to face with what appeared to be a group of black shapes; _growling_, black shapes.

"Oh my God," I squeaked with my hands to my mouth, backing up slowly toward the still open back door. What kind of monsters were they?

They looked like solid, black mutated animals staring at me with the eyes of hunters. No two of them looked the same, some on four legs with multiple heads and tails, others on two legs with multiple arms. Their eyes and teeth when they growled were the only things that weren't jet black. I couldn't keep myself from shaking like a leaf.

The creatures began stepping forward, their chorus of growls never stopping or even dying down and their narrowed eyes never leaving me. It was almost like they were responding to my racing heartbeat, nothing I could do would get them to give up on their prey. Me.

I continued to back up until my ankle hit the bottom step of the deck, desperately trying to keep my cool but feeling like I could jump out of my skin any minute. _Nice creepy monsters, good creepy monsters. Just a little bit more._

I lifted my foot onto the step and without a second thought, began sprinting as fast as I could up the stairs. I heard the animals launch into an attack and just as I was about to get to the door, one of them pounced in front of me, blocking my path. Just as it was about to charge at me, a large, red colored wolf launched itself out of the brush and sank it's teeth into the monster.

The other monsters behind me let out screams of pain as well as the one in front of me and I whipped around to see a tall brunette standing in the center of a circle of creatures. All of them were lying on the ground in pools of blood, the boy seemingly unharmed and even smirking.

_What...in hell is going on?!_

"Akaito," the brunette called. "aren't you done yet?"

The monster behind me crashed to the deck, and the red wolf growled as he started walking over to me. His head was low and his eyes examined me like he was trying to look into my soul or something. _Oh, crap not this again!_

I backed up, nearly tripping down the stairs when the brunette appeared behind me. "Where do you think you're going?" he smiled down at me, but that smile scared me more than the monsters did. He gabbed my arm and forced me to look at him, not so gently I might add. "We have a couple questions to ask you."

I didn't like this guy. Him and his mutt may have just saved my ass but something was wrong about him. He just loomed over me like he was trying to intimidate me. There was no sincerity in his voice or face and no matter what he said to me, I wasn't going to say anything.

I glared up at him, willing daggers to shoot from my eyes. "Well," I growled. "here's my answer!" I forced my knee up and kicked him as hard as I could, right where it counted.

He released me, crouching down in pain and wheezing, "You bitch." under his breath. Oh man, did that feel good.

I pushed him out of my way and sprinted down the stairs. I needed to get as far away as humanly possible.

I made my way through the circle of black corpses and was almost to the trees when a hand grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me backwards onto the grass.

"Whoa girlie," a different boy chuckled, standing over me. He had a red scarf wrapped around his neck and short red hair that resembled the wolf from before. Speaking of which, where _was_ that wolf? "you're a pretty feisty one."

Red-head crouched down in front of me and his face became serious, almost lethal like he could kill me without a second thought. "Do you know that piece of trash, Len Kagamine?"

"Who?" I glared, wanting so badly to do to him what I did to his friend.

"You know," he scoffed. "short, weak looking. A lot like you actually."

That bastard.

"But just answer this one question:" he yanked my shirt and brought me closer to him so we were in each other's faces, staring each other down. "If I killed you, would it destroy that runt?"

"I don't know him." I said darkly. "So not hardly stupid." I spit into his face, never letting my eyes leave his.

He calmly brought a hand up and wiped his face off, letting me go and pushing me back to the ground. "Have it your way."

Red-head stood and held one of his hands up in the air, curling his fingers like he was about to scratch me or something. I began hearing cracking noises and it took me a minute to register that it was coming from him. I watched as the bones in his hand started shifting by themselves; red hair started sprouting from the back of his hand and black nails jutted out from his nail beds. _Oh God, this isn't happening. W-what is he?_

He raised his hand, or paw as it now looked, to me bringing it down practically at the speed of light and hitting me across the cheek. I got knocked to the side but I scrambled to my feet, my face stinging and blood dripping down from my chin.

"You know running won't do you any good." he called after me, sounding amused. "If anything, I hunt _better_ when I'm chasing." I ignored him and hauled ass for the trees.

"Akaito!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, surprised to see the blond boy from the other day standing on the border of the woods and my yard. He narrowed his eyes at Red-head behind me and you could cut the tension between them with a knife.

"Len," he said, devoid of any emotion. "What are you doing here? I'm surprised you didn't turn tail and run away. This is a first."

I saw Len glance over at me, probably looking at the three, still bleeding scratches across my face before turning back to the guy he called 'Akaito'. "You know what the rule is about harming humans." he said in an even tone, glaring over at the other boy.

_Humans?_

"Oh wow!" Akaito broke out laughing. "I really don't give a damn! If the humans can't take care of themselves, that's not my problem." He pointed the arm with the paw at Len and smirked. "And who's going to stop me? You? Heh, what a joke!"

Akaito turned to me again and his friend walked down from the deck to join him. Looks like it took him longer to recover from that kick than I thought it would; good.

"You can handle her, right Al?" Akaito mocked the brunette.

"Of course, who do you think you're talking to." Al knelt down and placed his hand on the ground, his eyes boring silent death threats into mine.

I flinched and backed up, taking slight comfort that the concealing trees were only about ten feet away.

I watched in awe as Al curled his fingers against the ground and if I didn't know better, I would've sworn that they actually went into the ground itself. He made a fist like he had grabbed something and he stood, pulling a long dirt colored rod out of the earth. He continued to pull and a chain followed attached to the rod and then came a large spiked ball, all looking like they were made of the very dirt from the yard.

My mind couldn't really get past one thought though. _Oh God, he's got a mace!_

Al charged at me, swinging the mace like he was from the middle ages. I somehow managed to duck just in time for the spikes to zip past my face and stick into the trunk of the tree right next to me. I took this chance to trip him backwards and sprint for the trees.

I made it into the safe shadows and tried as best as I could to quiet my foot steps as the leaves and branches all threatened to crack underneath them. As much as I needed to get out of there, I wasn't going to leave Len with those maniacs. They were after him so in my mind he was a victim like I was.

I snuck around and peaked through the branches back into the brightly illuminated yard. I saw Len dodging Akaito's attacks but not doing anything to counter. Then Akaito got in a direct hit to Len's midsection and he went down like a sack of rocks near the edge of the woods.

I gasped but stayed as quiet as possible, slowly making my way over to him. _We need to get out of here before these psychos kill us. _I was so close to him now that I could reach out and grab him. _Please be okay._

Just as I was about to pull him into the bushes with me, the mace smashed through the brush and grazed my arm with several long gashes. I let out a scream and I was pulled from the bushes and thrown onto the grass.

"Heh, pain in the ass humans," Akaito mumbled. "Not even worth having around." I looked up with the most defiant look I've ever worn. "Don't worry girlie, we'll make it quick."

Al brought up his mace again and my eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the impact and the pain. But it didn't come. A loud grunt sounded in my ears and I opened my eyes to see Len laying next to me with a new wound to his shoulder.

Thinking fast, I grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it up into their faces, grabbing Len and running back into the woods. We ran for as far as we could before slumping down against a tree trunk, probably looking like we were both half dead.

"Len," I panted. "are you alright?"

"I'll live," he moaned back. "But you need to get out of here right now. They won't stop until they kill you, you've seen to much."

"Which reminds me," I gasped as I still tried to catch my breath. "when we survive this, you are telling me _exactly _what the hell that is."

He let out a breathy laugh. "Right. That's if we can beat them."

"No," I locked my eyes with his in the darkness. "_when _we beat them."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "And how do we do that?"

"...I'm still thinking."

"Well we're screwed." I saw Len suddenly tense up next to me and he inched closer, whispering, "I can hear them," in my ear.

Personally, I heard absolutely nothing. Maybe the rustling leaves of the trees, but nothing else.

"I have an idea," he whispered again. "but it might not work so don't get your hopes up." Wow, always the optimist isn't he?

Before I could say anything he started saying something that sounded almost like some kind of incantation. "The power of the demon, and the heart of the human, come together for the sole purpose to protect. That which is seen and yet not seen under the light of the sun and the moon, I make the oath. The oath of the demon hunters."

I felt something burning my ear and when I reached up there seemed to be a small cuff wrapped around it. _The demon hunters?_ "What did you-"

Len fell onto his back and started moaning, his teeth clenched and his eyes tightly shut. "Len?" I panicked, scrambling to my knees next to him. "What's wrong? Tell me what's happening."

He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by what seemed like a pulse of pain, forcing him to arch his back and flip over onto his stomach. I heard a noise, the same one from back when Akaito was changing his hand except this was so much louder it almost sounded like breaking glass. Even in the darkness I could see Len's bones shifting under his skin, cracking and shrinking and _moving._ He looked like he was in so much pain.

"Le-"

"Ah, here they are."

I spun around to see Al and Akaito smirking at us like they had already won, Al's weapon raised high above his head, ready to strike and Akaito's hand still in the shape of a wolf's paw.

I got up and grabbed a large stick near the tree, holding it up like a sword in a feeble attempt to possibly protect us.

Al began laughing. "You're just postponing the inevitable. And do you really think _that_," he gestured to the stick. "is going to protect you?" He swung his arm and the mace struck the stick, smashing it to nothing but splinters in my hands. "You're dead, little girl."

_I can't die now, I _won't _die now!_

A low grumble came out of nowhere, almost sounding like thunder until I realized just how close it sounded. The faces of Al and Akaito had dropped from their sarcastic, sadistic looks to nothing but flat out awe as they stared at something behind me.

_L-Len?_ I slowly turned, the moonlight seeping through the branches slightly illuminating the wooded floor around me. Even in such limited light I couldn't deny what I saw: a gigantic, golden colored tiger with deep blue eyes.

**I know it's still a bit confusing but next chapter will probably have the explanation as to what's going on. Until then though, I'd like to know what you guys think so far. :)**


	5. Things Unseen

**Hey guys! I am so so so so sorry for the late update. But I've been torn between school work , college stuff and brainstorming for my other story "Always Believe" because I'm going to be picking that up again soon. But here are the long awaited answers. R&R :)**

**Things Unseen**

The tiger's fur glowed pure gold even in the limited light and his black stripes were as dark as all of the shadows surrounding us, probably darker. I couldn't help but let my jaw drop just looking at him. I've never seen and animal like him in my life.

I had to be losing my grip on reality. The boy who had come to help me had turned into a Bengal tiger; you don't get anymore crazy than that. But Akaito had somehow changed his hand into a wolf paw. He must've..._been_ that wolf from before. So...was he the same as Len? _Oh God, someone please tell me what's going on!_

"L-Len?" I gasped in awe as I nearly tripped backwards, my eyes never leaving the large jungle predator three feet away from me. I quickly began scanning the wooded floor, anything to tell me that this was a real tiger and not the human boy that was just right next to me. Yes, I would've rather dealt with a real tiger at that point. _T-that can't be him, right?_

The gigantic tiger stared at me, cobalt blue eyes wider than dinner plates like he was just as shocked as I was. He looked down at his front paws, ones large enough to probably take off my head in one swipe, and flexed them as if he was checking to see if they were real. His black claws dug into the ground as he padded at the soil and I tensed up, hoping and praying that Len still remembered whose side he was on. He _was_ still Len in there right?

After a few seconds that felt like days, he looked back up at me with a certain shine in his big cat eyes._ Is he...smiling?_

"Well, _someone's_ full of surprises tonight." I whipped around and Akaito was staring at Len with his arms crossed. His previous shocked expression had morphed into a look of pure anger, making him look like a feral beast that was beyond reason. He had his lips pulled back to show off his fast growing K-9's and muzzle, his eyes narrowed on Len and to my horror they began glowing a deep crimson red in the darkness. He looked like a monster; I saw nothing but bloodlust in those eyes.

_W-what... _are_ they?! _I panicked as shrunk back as far as possible, visibly shaking as fear took hold of all of my senses.

Len slowly padded across the ground to stand in front of me, his eyes never leaving Akaito's. He looked unsteady as he walked, like a newborn just learning how and nearly lost his balance a couple times. But even so, he looked determined as he stood straight and proud with his head held high, like the regal tigers of India themselves.

I felt a burning sensation on my left ear, similar to the one before, and remembered the ear cuff that came from nowhere. I lifted my hand to it and the warm metal seemed to pulsate with heat as I traced with my finger what I thought was a pattern of some sort carved into it.

"Pfft," Akaito snarled, looking more than half way through his transformation. "You think that just because you can transform, that you can take me? Think again pipsqueak, you're out of your league!" He shifted fully into wolf form with a loud series of cracks and lunged with fangs bared.

Len didn't move though. He stayed planted in front of me, as still as a statue until a low growl rolled through the air. He lifted up one of his gigantic front paws and slammed it back to the ground, nearly falling flat onto his face as he did so.

_What the hell is he doing?_ I yelled in my head, watching Akaito quickly close in and leap.

Thinking fast, I grabbed another stick from the ground and sprinted out from behind Len. Akaito's teeth were so close to my face that I could smell his rancid breath. But just as he was about to take a chunk out of my face, I shoved the stick into his mouth and pushed him back with every ounce of strength I could muster.

"So, how about that plan!" I shouted. Akaito grunted, seemingly in annoyance, and bit down on the stick, his razor sharp teeth mere centimeters from my shaking fingertips. "Hurry up!" The stick cracked loudly, sending a wave of dread through me. _Please, hurry Len!_

Something then wafted up into my nose and knew immediately what it was; smoke. A bright light flared up behind me and my heart sank into my feet.

I turned and Len stood not even two feet away, with small orange and yellow flames surrounding his paws, almost looking like they were coming _from _him. _Oh...my...God..._

"No you don't, punk!" Al screamed, as he began his charge, swinging his dirt mace high above his head. His eyes screamed murderous intent.

I squeaked, still attempting to hold off Akaito when an earth-shaking roar erupted from behind me, so loud I could've sworn the trees shook. The flames at Len's feet grew and spread out around us, the sheer force and heat knocking Akaito and Al away from me.

The trees all caught fire, burning brighter and out of control as the tendrils of flame reached for the sky. _Fire..._ I began to shake even more, my eyes dead locked on what I considered death itself. _Mom...Dad..._ I was back to that day a year ago, smelling the smoke, suffocating, practically hearing my parents screams.

I grabbed my head and curled up into the fetal position, loud sobs escaping my mouth. _I can't breath! _Then before I could get a hold of myself, black started to cloud my vision and I felt my body drop to the ground, the shadows taking hold of me.

...

I don't know how long it was before I woke up again. My head was pounding and my entire body ached. I felt like I had literally been hit by a truck, multiple times.

"Ugh," I groaned, my eyes still squeezed shut and grimacing at the pain as I tried turning over. "What the hell happened last night?"

_Wait, last night..._ The flood of memories from the night before smacked me in the face, sobering me immediately. _Oh no! _I quickly opened my eyes and sat up, my head spinning like a top but I didn't care.

I had passed out in the forest, but now I was in my room, my bright orange painted walls greeting me as they glowed in the morning sunlight. _W-what...happened...?_

_That boy turned into a tiger... and then the fire...the fire. _Upon remembering the inferno, my eyes began to water._ It's okay Rin!_ I attempted to calm myself. _You're home, it's over._

"Rin?" I heard Lily say as she knocked on my door. "Are you up?"

"Y-yeah..." I called back, and she opened the door with a cheerful look on her face, her golden hair hanging through the crack.

"Just in time," she grinned. "I was just about to go out to run some errands. You want me to stock up on oranges right?"

"Um...sure," I mumbled, just hoping that she'll leave so I can have my mental breakdown in peace.

She raised an eyebrow at me in confusion. "Are you okay Rin? You don't look too good." Then she gasped, "And what happened to your face!"

"N-nothing really Lily, I promise," I stammered as my heart sank. "I'm fine; I just tripped last night when I was getting a drink. _Hm, seems like I'm getting decent at this lying thing…_

Lily studied my face for what was probably only a few seconds, but still made me start sweating. There was no way I could tell her, she would lock me up in an asylum. _Please, no more questions. Just go shopping. Please, please, please!_

"...Okay, if you say so. Just make sure to put some disinfectant on it, or it might get infected." She shot me a worried look, but said no more as she shut the door.

I waited until she got into her car and left before I started questioning myself again. _Okay, lets assess. Was it a dream?_ I looked down at my dirty, ripped and slightly blood stained pajamas._ Nope. _The large scratches on my face and arm pulsed with pain. _Definitely not._

"Phew, thought she'd never leave."

I whipped around and my eyes landed on the blond boy from last night, the tiger. Len. _For the love of God, what is he doing here?_

The image of him turning into a jungle predator flashed before my eyes and I threw the closest thing to me at him, in an attempt to keep him at bay. "Why are you here?"

He dodged the paperweight easily, cocked an eyebrow at me and smirked, "Is that how you treat the guy that saved your life?"

"Last time I checked, I saved your life too," I shot back; annoyed by how calm he was when my mind was racing.

He took a step toward me and I flinched back instinctively. Len held up his hands, probably to show me he was no threat to me, but that gesture didn't make me feel any better.

"Relax," he said cautiously. "I'm not here to hurt you." He reached up and started scratching his head like he was embarrassed. "I guess...I'm here to thank you."

He took another step forward and I tumbled backwards off of my bed. "You can thank me from over there, thank you very much," I stated firmly. I wasn't taking any chances, even if he did save my life. I wanted answers and I wasn't going to fully trust him until I got them. "And while you're at it, why don't you explain what the hell happened last night."

"Well...," he hesitated like he was choosing his next words carefully, his blue eyes scanning me curiously. "It's only because you let me make that pact with you, that I can transform now." He shoved his hands into the pocket of his black hoodie and continued, "To be honest, I really didn't think you were a Seer."

_...A what?_ "Whoa, whoa, back up a bit. What the hell are you talking about? What's a 'Seer'?"

Len's eyes got wide and he stared at me for a long moment as he locked them with mine. He blinked several times before speaking. "Y-you mean you don't know what you are?"

"Apparently not," I sighed, crossing my arms. "So why don't you tell me."

He stared at me long enough to make me feel uncomfortable, his cobalt blue eyes locked with mine like he was boring into my soul.

Then he suddenly burst out into a fit of laughter, clutching at his sides and tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "You're joking right!" he wheezed in between laughs. "Seer's are _born_ knowing what they are and come into their powers at ten years old! There's no way you-" He saw the dead serious look on my face and I could've sworn his literally dropped to the floor.

"You don't know what you are...," he whispered, barely audible.

"No shit!" I yelled. "What do you think I've been saying to you this whole time?"

"B-but that makes no sense…" he quietly mumbled to himself like he was lost in Len-Land.

I rolled my eyes at him. _Great, looks like I've lost him._

"That makes no-" I picked up another paperweight from my desk and chucked it at him, this time making contact.

"Ow! Would you stop doing that!"

"Then freaking tell me what's going on!"

Len briefly glanced at me and I saw something flash in his eyes, but it disappeared when he broke eye contact. "Um...," he began, obviously uncertain of something, either of my reaction or maybe even saying something he shouldn't.

_Where did that confidence go?_

I didn't know, but for whatever reason, I got the feeling that I _could _trust him despite not knowing anything about him. No matter how much my brain was telling me to keep my guard up, I found it insanely hard to do so. It was the same feeling I had on Friday when I'd first met him. I've never felt threatened by him.

For an instant, my mind flashed back to the tiger standing in front of me. He was protecting me. _He won't hurt me._

I sighed, and placed my hands on my hips. "Besides, you promised that you'd tell me if we lived right?"

Len looked back at me and a small smile slowly cracked at the corner of his mouth. "Right." He thought silently for a moment, probably trying to figure out where to start, before saying, "You know on Friday when you found me half dead?"

I nodded and leaned back against the windowsill, listening intently. "Those two guys from last night were the ones who did that to me. The thing is I wasn't as close to dead as you probably thought. I'm…"

"Not human?" I threw out there with a smirk on my face. "Because from what I saw last night, that's kind of obvious."

"Yeah," he quietly laughed. "Technically I'm half human, the other half of me is well…demon."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean like summon-through-a-pentagram demon? Doesn't that mean you work for Satan?"

"Um, no," he started scratching his head. "Let me put it this way, I'm human, just with half of my human blood being mixed with demon blood. My ancestors were probably summoned through a pentagram, but I don't think they were evil or anything. In fact, they were protection demons, and despite what Akaito and Al could've possibly made you think, we actually protect humans. We're called demon hunters."

Len looked down at his hand in concentration but caught himself and began talking again. "There are two types of demon hunters, and we partner up and work together as a team. There are Half-Bloods, which are what I am, and Seers… like you."

"I see...," I mumbled. "What's the difference between the two though?"

"Well like I said before, I'm mostly human with mixed demon blood. That means... well, basically that I have two sides to me. I have the human, which is talking to you right now, and the demon, which I guess you met last night. The human part of my brain was still in control then though, so I didn't go ballistic... much. With the demon blood running through my veins, I get special powers. One of them is that I can transform into my demon half and fight as a demon, then the other is a power over a specific earth element. That's pretty much the extent of my power though.

Seers...are different. They have demon blood too but not as much as half-bloods. No one really knows how much demon blood they have exactly, but it's enough to give them instincts, intuition, heightened senses and athletic ability, and the power over an element as well." Len looked me in the eyes and smiled a little bit. "Sound familiar at all?"

My eyes widened. I had always known whether someone was dangerous or not. Even as a child, I was always weary of people I got a certain vibe from. That same vibe was what I felt around Akaito and Al and didn't feel around Len. They weren't just feelings after all; they were my instincts, my demon instincts.

_Oh my God, this isn't happening._ I brought my hands up to grip my head, feeling like I was on the verge of tears, and turned away from Len. "How do you know?" I whispered, barely audible.

"What, that you're a Seer?" I could practically hear his eyebrow rise in his tone. "Well for starters, you're not afraid of me. You weren't when we first met either. But I wasn't entirely sure until last night, when I pacted with you."

"Wait, what?" I turned back to him and shot him a teary-eyed glare. "Pacted? What does that mean?" Whatever it was, it didn't sound good.

"Um," he started, lightly scratching his cheek with his index finger. From the look on his face, he was probably trying to figure out a way to explain without setting me off. "Remember how I mentioned before that Half-Bloods and Seers partner up?"

My eyes widened. _…Oh no…_

"Well, last night what I whispered in your ear was the essentially the partnering up incantation. There's sort of a ritual that needs to be followed before a Half-Blood and a Seer can become official partners and demon hunters. Without a partner, neither side can hunt to their fullest potential."

I was frozen, my arms dropping limply to my sides and my jaw nearly falling to the floor. There was no way he was implying what I thought he was, right? "D-does that make me…?"

"A demon hunter? Yeah."

I shot forward and gripped him by the neck of his black hoodie, willing daggers to shoot from my teary eyes as I glared into his. "What the hell were you thinking!" I yelled in his face, my voice dripping anger. "I can't be a demon hunter, Len! I just freaking learned that they existed and you expect me to fight them with you? I've never fought anything in my life!"

He returned my glare with rivaled intensity as he screamed back, "Look, it's not like I had any other options! Did you _want _to die last night? The only way I could've transformed and fought them off was if I pacted with a Seer, which unfortunately happened to be you!"

"Ugh," I spat, pushing him away from me. I could feel my heart breaking. Any chance I had at a normal life as a sixteen year-old girl was crumbling before my eyes. I couldn't listen to this anymore. Why couldn't I just be normal?

"Let me just say this before you blow up again," Len sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Technically, you're not even a demon hunter yet. You're only half way through the ceremony."

"Explain," I growled with my arms crossed over my chest.

Len pointed a finger at me and said, "You know that ear cuff? It appeared on you when I started the pact. It's kind of like my mark, showing that I picked you as a partner." Then he grumbled, "Though I didn't have much of a choice."

_Bastard._

"But look here," he gestured to his right ear. "I don't have one. That's because you didn't say the incantation back to me. Get it?"

Relief rushed through me like a title wave. "S-so I'm _not _a demon hunter?"

"You are; it's in your blood. But are you an official demon hunter, accepted by the academy? Nope."

"What's the academy?"

Len's face became dark, his eyes narrowing and looking to the ground. "It's-"

I heard a car door slam just outside and spun around to rush to the window. Lily was getting out of her black Camry with several bags of groceries._ Damnit! Lily can't see him here!_

"You have to go." I said, still looking out into the front yard and waiting for a good opportunity to sneak him out.

Len made his way over and stood next to me, still making sure to keep a respectful distance in case I went off again. "Yeah, looks like it." He moved over to my other window by the trees and slid it open quietly. "Let me know when you're less likely to bite my head off. We can talk more then."

"Pfft, whatever," I grumbled. But then I hesitated, feeling guilty for going off on him like I did, he helped me after all. I was just so confused and scared about everything and I needed to let it sink in a little. "But thanks anyway."

"Huh?" He turned around with his eyes wide. A 'thank you' was probably the last thing he ever expected to come from my mouth.

I smiled at his confused face. "For saving my life last night."

"Rin?" Lily called up the stairs, still having a tone of concern.

"Now go!" I whispered and tried shoving him out of the second story window.

I saw a smirk pull at the corner of his mouth. "Heh, yeah, yeah. See ya later, stupid." Then he leaped out without any hesitation.

"Hey! I told you not to call me that!" I whispered angrily after him, but he was already gone, swallowed up by the brush.


End file.
